Zimbabwe: Zanu-PF Must Lead the Way

The news about the end of the world proved to be a hoax after all. However, in 2013 there are quite a number of politicians in Zimbabwe whose political careers are definitely going to come to an end.

The battle lines are already drawn between those who want to defend, protect and preserve the values of the liberation struggle as well as safeguard the country's sovereignty and those whose major aim is to be a caricature of Europe by embracing Western social, economic and political blueprints.

The first months of 2013 will mainly be characterised by power struggles between and among various contenders for political office. Love for power has always been the inherent demon in every man.

Thomas Hobbes says that a man has lust for power and it only stops at death. No matter how we might hate these power struggles they will always be there and are unavoidable in our daily interactions. The fuel that drives all politics is always power.

The MDC-T stands accused in the court of public opinion of corruption in most city councils, being a puppet doing the bidding for Western imperialists, failing to deliver on its election promises and of also having a very weak and ambivalent leadership.

It is in 2013 that the MDC-T has to prove to the electorate that it has a mind of its own and is not a surrogate of Western capitalists. The task will be a tough one since the damage has already been done.

This might be a humpty-dumpty scenario where it will be difficult for the MDC-T to glue in the various broken political pieces together. Chances of an MDC-T election victory in 2013 are next to none.

They are more like a coincidence to spot a green chameleon in the ever green forests of the DRC or catching sight of the Nyaminyami in the murky waters of Lake Kariba.

The year 2012 showed that the MDC-T was facing a leadership crisis which if not handled well in 2013 will lead to more fractures within its ranks. For any political party to survive it needs philosopher kings who are very prudent and pragmatic especially when dealing with various social, economic and political issues.

Insiders within the MDC-T think the Prime Minister's many slip-ups will continue in a way they believe, will greatly weaken the already bleeding and fractured party's image and dishearten thousands of voters from rallying behind it in 2013.

Juice, the MDC-T economic blueprint has proved to be a very fraudulent and myopic policy which merely serves Western interests. The calls by the MDC-T for good governance have also been exposed as mere rhetoric, the worst democratic bribery to be seen in Zimbabwean politics.

We wait to see what new bag of tricks these democratic hypocrites have for us in 2013. We hope their 2012 good governance propaganda won't be another disastrous hoax in 2013.

Another weakness within MDC-T politics is centred on the belief that democracy should only serve the party's selfish interests even if it undermines the rule of law. The holier-than-thou attitude or the whiter-than- snow mentality is quite disgusting especially when these charlatans' hands are dripping with corruption.

They have partnered in very diabolical activities with their Western friends and have also shown a great affinity for bribes as they now chase after gifts.

From 2000 onwards, these fraudsters have been preaching to us that they would defend the cause of the poor, but all this has come to naught. In 2013 we promise no favouritism in exposing hypocrites and fraudsters irrespective of which political party they represent. Africa needs a leadership that is visionary, focused and very creative as to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. Western controlled marionettes need not be entertained anymore in this 21st century. It is high time Africans defend what belongs to them rather than electing Western surrogates for political office who are manipulated left, right and centre by their capitalist handlers.

Kwame Nkrumah warned us to know the enemy. He said the enemy has become more subtle by using other Africans to do their bidding. The enemy we face today shares the same skin colour with us. He can easily be identified by the way he worships the white world (constitution making process).

The constitution making process has always been like trying to mix oil and water. We saw it through the whole of 2012 that Zanu-PF and the two MDCs' ideological perspectives were totally and completely opposed.

Revolutionaries who fought against a brutal and oppressive white colonial set up will never be seen in agreement with this new breed of donor-funded black skinned neo-liberal hypocrites who are nothing more than a confused group of Western appendages interested in reversing the whole gains of independence as to please a clique of whites.

Copac was actually an attempt to bring in white colonial interests camouflaged as democratic freedoms.

Fears were also abound among the masses when some cadres in the revolutionary party were accused of clandestinely siding with the enemy as evidenced by the various complaints appearing on a daily basis in the short messages section of the public media. Genuine revolutionaries should never be like a bat.

It is, however, an undeniable fact that the country should also learn from other countries and draw on their vast experience, but automatic or unconscious use of foreign experience and copying of alien models will definitely get Zimbabwe nowhere.

The MDC-T should also know that the country has had many lessons in this respect and that's why Juice has been condemned left, right, and centre by economists, politicians and academics.

Zanu-PF with its indigenous and economic empowerment policies is taking an economic path of its own which in years to come will be beneficial to the majority. The whole aim of indigenisation, empowerment and ownership share trusts is to make all Zimbabweans prosperous, not to create polarisation.

If these policies lead to polarisation, it would mean they will have failed. The last should always be the first and the first should be the last. Zimbabwe's affairs should be run according to its specific conditions and by the Zimbabwean people themselves.

While it is imperative that Zimbabweans should value their friendship and co-operation with other states they should never lose focus on valuing even more their hard-won independence and sovereign rights.

No foreign country should ever expect Zimbabwe to be its puppet or surrogate as well as to expect it to agree to anything that is damaging to its own interests. MDC-T should clearly know that Zimbabwe can only open up to the outer world and increase its exchanges with these countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit (51 percent ownership of our God given resources).

Zimbabweans have their own national self-respect and pride. It is therefore our highest honour as Zimbabweans (MDC-T included) to love our country and contribute all our efforts to its development.

We deem it the deepest dishonour, shame and disgrace to harm or prejudice Zimbabwe's interests, dignity and reputation. In 2013, Zanu-PF should also include in its ranks cadres who are more revolutionary, younger, better educated and more competent professionally.

The Cuban revolution has survived up to this day because of its genuine, selfless and dignified commitment to the masses. No revolution can survive if it takes the masses for granted and also if those who are in leadership positions are corrupt, greedy, selfish, power hungry and self-centred.

The revolutionary party now than ever needs cadres who when given posts of responsibility should keep in touch with the masses. How many in such positions of authority in Zanu-PF have ever bothered to choose a grassroots constituent such as a school, clinic, village or urban project and try to find out how things are.

The newly elected Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently said that "making empty talk is harmful to the nation, while doing practical work can make it thrive."

True party cadres should make reports about their constituencies on a monthly basis as well as meet regularly with the masses that elected them into political office. Zanu-PF politicians should keep the masses informed about state affairs (problems the party is facing in the inclusive Government . . . ) about the principles and policies adopted by the revolutionary party at every stage (indigenisation, empowerment, ownership share trust funds . . . and about the international situation as well as our foreign policy.

A well informed people are the greatest weapon against neo-colonialism. Zanu-PF's sound policies should not be reduced to mere television, radio and newspaper debates. It is retrogressive and dangerous for the revolutionary party to keep its supporters in the dark regarding various policies, programmes, projects and plans.

The masses need to know their party position rather than getting distorted information from the media.

It is quite disheartening to note that the masses are neither well informed nor knowledgeable about the contents of the draft constitution and also the true position of the party on indigenisation and empowerment.

We challenge Zanu-PF top brass to tell the masses about current issues as well as the party's position on various social, political and economic concerns.

True party cadres do not sleep on the job nor favour certain groups of people, but they try by all means to serve all the people in a very transparent manner.

Zanu-PF should always put the people first and should not in any way be viewed by the masses as a party that only serves the interests of a greedy, materialistic, egocentric and rapacious elite.

President Mugabe promised the masses at the Zanu-PF 13th Annual National People's Conference in Gweru that he would fire corrupt ministers. While such a move is good very few people have the courage to report such corrupt individuals to the highest authority.

The masses know very well the dishonest individuals who have been putting the party's name in bad light.

They know those politicians who have committed serious economic crimes, abused power for private gain (corruption), those who have seriously weakened the revolutionary party's relations with the people (factionalism) and also those who have been at odds with the party politically all along and have merely pretended to be in agreement with it (treacherous bhora musango thugs).

All these people are dangerous, dishonest and fraudulent elements who represent serious weaknesses in the party's organisation. Party discipline has been a bit lenient over the years that some very bad people have been shielded.

It is quite obvious that if one was to shake both the Zanu-PF and MDC-T political trees many rotten and corrupt individuals would fall from those trees.

The good news is that the revolutionary party unlike MDC-T has promised the people that it will conduct primary elections in most constituencies as to get rid of such useless and decadent elements within the party.

The masses might lack the power to report these dishonest individuals to the highest political office, but it should not be forgotten that it is the much neglected masses who wield the absolute power to remove such retrogressive elements from political office provided the primary elections are held in a transparent manner.

In 2013, all Zanu-PF members, no matter who they are or what posts they hold, should be prepared to criticise others and themselves.

Munyaradzi Huni's interviews in The Sunday Mail have already set the ball rolling. That is a major secret why the Cuban revolution has survived for long. Regular criticism and self-criticism within any political party is healthy for its survival.

We wish all progressive Zimbabweans a Prosperous 2013!

Bowden Mbanje and Darlington Mahuku are lecturers in International Relations, and Peace and Governance with Bindura University of Science Education.

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